Paakabaa Letter Santa Thaathaa

Paaduka-speak	English
Helo Santa Thaathaa,	Hello Santa Claus Thaathaa,
you waan?	I want the following things this year:
phone batty No appa	a good phone and some batteries that when I take and play with, my appa will not say "No".
aaloo, beebaa, ausher, arnee, cookaa, colo	Elmo, Big Bird, Oscar, Ernie, Cookie Monster, Grover
sapatam, paper pichee	a pustakam (book) that I can happily tear (pikkaradhu) the papers from.
isheem, oshenj joosamma, paalu, nummy paal, shaapaa	Ice cream, Orange Juice, Water melon (pazham), yummy chocolate milk, Pasta
diapu shop	a diaper that can absorb everything away so it does not need to be changed everytime
sheenam, aanai, thoo jeejaa, py zeebaa, nama joojoo	Lion (singam), Elephant (yaanai), 2 Giraffes, Five Zebras, Nine (nava) Dogs (that you can say "joo joo" to call them)
pore canee, ten bikki	Four candies, Ten biscuits/cookies
(ammaulae paTToo, bumpee, come back)	(My amma is calling me "paTTu", "bumby"; I will check and come back)
Barney TV no shop	Play Barney non-stop on the TV
baloo poTTu no aaa ooo	a good balloon that I can throw around (poTTu) without breaking it, when I will say "Uh Oh"
peekayoo howayou?	Play Peekaboo with me and I will tell you "How are you?"
thaa, pees ok? ok? ok?	Will you please give (thaa) me these? Is it OK?
thaantoo, paakabaa	thank you, paaduka

(Pictures) December 2009

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We watched a documentary together

appA, ammA and I started watching "Life of birds" documentary. I love to watch duckies, crows and swan in our apartment complex. I was excited to see so many different birds on T.V. that I could not help myself. Imagine this scene for yourself

pAdukA - wow wow wow! duckie duckie appA
appA - correct pAdukA, duckie
pAdukA - duckie ammA
ammA - duckie, very good pAdukA

15 seconds later
pAdukA - wow wow (standing right in front of appA) simmy simmy simmy (swimming in adult language)
appA - yes... duckie swim pannaradhu (duckie is swimming)
appA and ammA concentrating hard on the narration in the documentary inspite of funny noises pAdukA is making.
pAdukA - jalam jalam ammA, jalam (water)
ammA - yes pAdukA jalam dhaan
pAdukA - duckie duckie (looking at some other bird)
ammA - duckie illa
pAdukA - duckie simmy simmy
ammA - illa....
appA - you both won't let us watch.

19 seconds later
pAdukA - wow wow wowow (dancing in front of the T.V.) kAkA kAkA... whoosh whoosh (showing flying action)
appA - very good pAdukA
pAdukA - ber ber ber (pronounced as "bir" in bird)
ammA and appA doing their best to ignore pAdukA's constant commentary and to concentrate on the documentary
pAdukA - duckie duckie duckie aaah? no no no no?
pAdukA - ber ber ber
appA - shhhh..... be quiet
pAdukA - simmy simmy... no no uh?
pAdukA's constant onslaught continues....
ammA has already given up trying to see the documentary
ammA - can we watch later?
pAdukA - shhhhh.. (with finger on her lips) duckie duckie appa appA .... huh?
appA - ok let's watch this some other time..
switches off
pAdukA - aachi... (meaning over)

..... and so we watched a documentary together :)

(Pictures) November 2009

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chooooooll

I am becoming a big girl now.... so big that ammA and I are going to the same school together! Here is a peep into my activities at school....

I enter the class and I have to find my spot in front of an easel and hold on to it inspite of other kids. I spend about 20 minutes creating my art.

Then it is time to play in and with sand. I am getting introduced to grabbing and running away with shovels and a dumptruck while playing. It's getting hard for me to play with the things I have after knowing that the kid near me has the same toy in a different color. Oh! little does ammA know how hard it is to cope with this !

I have to tell you about this funny pracitice during circle time - we are given bells and flags that we have to return. I am pretty much the only kid who protests on behalf of everyone. Surprisingly no one has joined me and the other kids give back these things voluntarily. If you have to get it from me, you are not getting it without a fight!

I love snack time. We are given crackers, fruit and water in a small cup. I enjoy drinking water from the cup and eating crackers of the kid who sits next to me. ammA keeps saying that I have the same on my plate. If that is so, why can't I have the crackers from the other kid's plate? I don't understand the logic!

Overall I enjoy my time at school. It's a lot of fun interacting with kids and doing so many activities. What is my ammA doing at school apart from following me everywhere I go? I have to attend child-teacher-association meeting to know if she is doing OK at school :)

(Pictures) October 2009

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mun thoo fai thee foe

Counting is super fun. I say numbers in the order I wish. It is exciting that way as you can keep people guessing about the number you are going to say next. I have been putting up a fight to save my creativity from my parents who are trying to initiate me into their cult of saying numbers in a particular order all the time.

Did you know that saying numbers before you jump is good for you as it helps in smooth landing? :) This is how I play this game. thee, fai, mun, thoo and get down carefully from the chair or couch :) yeah, this is how I jump!

mun thoo fai is all you need to count. Why bother learning more? I can count all the pieces of my Lego block set using mun thoo fai. I have lost a lot of pieces while playing but my ammA does not know! You want to know how? Simple, I count the blocks while putting it back into the box after I have played. There are only fai blocks every time I count! ammA will never know about the missing pieces though I have not planned for the day when there will be less than fai pieces...

(Pictures) September 2009

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Communication is the key

Everyday after I take a bath amma says "umAchi sevvi Govinda" and I go near "mAchi" and standing I touch my feet with my head (it's fun)
Amma gives "bicchi" (raisins) after I do "Govinda"
This is easy. I do one of my fun poses and I get sweet "bicchi"

Whenever I feel like it I go near mAchi and touch my feet with my head and demand "bicchi". Well, this technique has been working till now. touch wood.....

One day I was happily munching my well earned "bicchi" while tearing up a book. My amma saw this and started forcing me to open my mouth and spit what I was munching thinking that I was eating paper. I forced myself out of her clutches and had to tell her that I was eating "bicchi" she gave me. I showed her how I do "govinda" in front of "mAchi" and pointed at my mouth and said "bicchi"

She understood! She hugged and kissed me :)

Communication communication communication.. that's the key :)

My diary notes

There is so much happening around me but I am trying to keep pace. I enjoyed this navarathri visiting many "mAchi" (golu umAchi)and also showing people who came home our mAchi. My parents do not allow "pAkkabA" into "mAchi" room unless someone comes visiting. Oh, I did not tell you about "pAkkabA". Now I have realized that the mirror does not show a pApA when I look into it. It is actually "pAkkabA" :)I am so excited!

Things are different during navarathri. I usually say "bye" repeatedly (to the embarrassment of my parents till the person goes out of our house:) when I see people take their keys or bag or put on their shoes/sandals. But now, when amma gives a goody bag (vetrilai pAkku) to someone or when we receive one, it's time to say "bye". I am happy that I figured this out. One more cue to start saying "bye"

Speaking of goody bags, I wonder why people drop one pAlu (pazham-fruit) and two yellow ballooo (manjal)in it. I have explored many of them but am yet to understand why pAlu and balloo together???

(Pictures) August 2009

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Balloo becomes Appy

It's like magic..

"Our patio garden is doing pretty well this season in spite of pAdukA attacks" say my parents. I am such a natural gardener. I love to water plants twice a day provided my ammA allows and the people in the apartment below do not mind a couple of gallons poured into their patio :)

Well, I am excited to see balloo (balloon) and so are my parents. While I like bigger balloo-s, my parents like small green ones that hang from the plants. But they do not touch or play with it and do not allow me to touch it either!? I love these small green balloo-s as they are handy and you can play for a while and squeeze it to make it mushy and smear it all over :)

As days have gone by instead of saying "balloo balloo balloo..." when I go to our patio, I am saying "appy (apple) appy appy...." All the balloo-s are becoming "appy" ! Now I pick them and eat.They are sweet! I am surprised and filled with wonder!

I have a big green balloo which I play with. I am waiting for it to turn into one big tasty appy.... maybe I should leave it in the patio for that to happen?

Secret Room

I am allowed free access to most parts of our house. I do face some resistance when I go to a place my mother keeps calling "pantree" (though I have never seen any pants in it). I have not been able to get enough time to tinker when this cold room opens and stores colorful juicy stuff. My parents keep referring to it as 'frij' I think. There are no secrets in these rooms.

But there are two rooms in our house that I am sure hold some secrets. I have gotten into these rooms and have my daily bath in one of them, but I notice that my parents go in there often and do not let me in. When I am taken in for a bath, I have tried looking at all the things in that room, to see if anything has changed positions and gives some clues, but to no avail. I think my parents are hiding some secrets in these rooms and do not want me to know. There is this short fixed stool on which I like to tap my hands. This one time,when I found the top open, I figured out that they were hiding water in it. When my dad was not looking during his shave, I even got to taste a bit of that water, but it just tastes no different. They never use it for my bath though.

So, I do not know what they do with that water. I have noticed these colorful slabs and do not know what they are used for. Every time I try to taste one, my mother takes it away and washes my hands. Interestingly, she even washes her own hands with that same hard slab!

All kiddos out there, if you have such secret rooms in your homes, email me and we can compare notes.

(Pictures) July 2009

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My interview

My appA interviews me to get an update on what happened during the day. Here are the highlights of our interesting conversation :)

appA : What did you give Bittu?
pAdukA : He was taking my toys! I had to grab it back from him. For that he pulled my hair :(

appA : What did you give Chintu?
pAdukA : Pooppu pooppu ( God only knows what that means! Try to figure that..)

appA : What did you buy from the shop ?
pAdukA : (not interested, playing and jumping on the pillow)

appA : Did you buy blue chocolate?
pAdukA : Cannot reveal, sorry

appA : How much did you pay ?
pAdukA : You cannot ask children the amount they spend on chocolate

appA : What else did you do ? Did you go to the pond ?
pAdukA : Puttu puttu... (thats my friend's name, just felt like saying it:)

appA : Did you play with Bittu with toys?
pAdukA : (nods)

appA : What toys?
pAdukA : totoy totoy.. (that's quick thinking for you, I just invented that toy:)

appA : Are you going to narrate a story?
pAdukA : kAkA.. kAkA..(thats the most concise form of story you would have heard!)

appA : Where is your nose?
pAdukA : ( shows her nose )

appA : Do you like your nose?
pAdukA : (nods) now that's a good question

appA : Which shop are you going to tomorrow?
pAdukA : safeway, India cash & carry, target, toys r us ( I should be going to the last one more often than the grocery shops!)

(interviewee turns playful poking and hitting her appA and kissing him to keep him in good humor)

appA : Was it hot today? Did it rain?
pAdukA : (not interested) he is talking weather! are we out of interesting topics!

appA : Did you trouble ammA today?
pAdukA : (nods emphatically) Now you are treading into dangerous territory.

pAdukA : I am going to tell you something I did today. I was playing peek-a-boo with Rijul. He was curious about my mouth and he was inserting his finger into my mouth. My ammA kept removing his finger from my mouth. Just when my ammA was not looking, he once again inserted his finger into my mouth and I had to bite him to help him find my teeth. He was looking for them, so I helped! But he began to cry and I was confused. Wasn't he searching for my teeth?

Here is the video of my interview

Urgent Care

For a period of 3 weeks, I visited a place five times. It looked the same except some number of people were changing every time. I got to see some people of my size, but they were not being allowed to run around and they seemed as sad as me. We usually awaited 20-30 minutes though it felt like eternity to me. The usual routine was a lady in a white dress put me on a table and noted down some thing, and then neglecting all resistance from me, stuck something into one of my ears and after torturing me to be still for 1 minute, announced some number like 101.2 or 102.5 or something like that. She did not give me any candy for obeying. Then, another person in a white coat would come in, and inspect my ear some more, press my tummy and other parts of the body, look into my mouth, and then talk to my parents. The bed in which I was laid down seemed about four times my size! I realized the result of these visits later in the day, when my normal diet will be increased by another new liquid which was forced into my mouth with a dropper. The more I think about it, I am not sure why I resisted, since the liquid actually tasted good.


During that entire period, I felt very tired, and was not interested in running around, and playing with my friends. I slept lot more, curled around my mother's shoulders lot more, and was able to have my way lot more. We hardly had any visitors and we never went to people's homes. But most important of all, my parents were more loving and more attentive to me than normal. I felt like I was getting "Urgent Care". Now, I am all healthy, but my parents are constantly asking me not to touch things, lick things, throw things, etc. Hmm. not sure what has changed in them!

(Pictures) June 2009

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Laugh.. laugh

I love balloons and enjoy saying baLLooo.. Anything that is round and inflated is baLLooo for me.




Right now I am realizing that ball and baLLoo are different but THIS (below) I am sure about :)

It's fun to jump on appA when he is lying down. Thats my favourite activity but wait I discovered something. It's baLLooo! appA has a baLLoo on him. I could not stop telling "baLLoo" touching his belly :)

My parents found it amusing but my appA later felt he should be exercising more.

So, people with paunch watch out, I might just embarass you innocently ;)

(Pictures) May 2009

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Pretend play

Oh.. This is my discovery number chooo (two, the only number I know to say :) It's a simple but fun game. Here is how you play it.

A tip to help get started 
Remind yourself how your parents stir/prepare your food and shove into your mouth.

Things required :
a spoon, anything that has depth preferably a cup, 2 people

Method :
Imagine that the other person who is with you has to be fed.

Pick up a spoon and assume that there is food in the cup/even your hand

Dip the spoon into the cup and stir the invisible content well. 

Go to the person you are going to feed and insert the spoon into the person's mouth no matter how much they dodge you.

Encourage the person to enjoy the food by showing them to chew and lick their lips. It will be fun to watch that :)

This game is best enjoyed with your parents who will be amazed every time you feed them :)

Funny people... :)

Demo of the game for you 

Duckie licked me !

Really... :)
[But, dont worry, I did not get duck flu!]

I love to play with my friends around the small pond in our apartment complex. I take time to watch the duckie-s and talk to them. One fine day, I realized that one of the ducks wanted to say something to me. So I went closer when my ammA was not looking. Before ammA could realize what I was up to, I inserted my finger through the fence. Duckie-s in our pond are often fed bread and this friendly one thought my finger to be bread and licked it :)

Till date, only I have feasted on my fingers. Now duckie got to taste my yummy finger. Realizing what happened, my ammA rushed me to our home and washed my finger, hands and body with all kinds of liquids!

hehehehe... still can't believe... duckie licked me :-)

(Pictures) April 2009

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pAdukA-pedia

Yes... I am starting to talk. It's fun rolling my tongue and blowing air out to produce sounds. Here are some combinations of sounds I make and a guide to what I mean by these words. I do produce many other sounds but my parents (they call it oLarals/blabbering) are still trying to understand and decipher it :)

Hi - simple friendly Hi
It's fun to say this. I am surprised that people are so pleased to hear this simple sound.

ammA - my ammA ofcourse :)
I usually say this when I really need something from my ammA or I need to be comforted.

AppA - apple or appA.
It's apple when I point to the fruits chart and sometimes I please my appA by calling him "AppA" :)

baaa - ball or pAl (milk in Tamil)
baaa is so much fun when you take it from another kid. But I will not say the same about pAl. pAl is a bore even though it might be in some other kid's sippy cup :)

joo joo - Dog
thAthA taught me to call dogs but I use it for any animal and sometimes I say it just for fun :)

kAkA - crow
I learnt this word from my favorite "kAkA" rhyme. It's simple, everything that flies is kAkA. Why name each bird?

maaa - mAdu (Cow) still working hard to say "du"

mAmum - food
I raise my parents' hope that I am hungry by saying this when I see food :)

pApA - baby
Any kid big or small is pApA for me.

poo - flower
Love saying this. Cannot stop saying "poo" when I am out for a stroll.

vAvAvA - come
When I am in the exersaucer and my parents won't pick me up, I keep telling this.

nAnAnA - humming a song
I love Karadi rhymes. This is my version of the humming of a rhyme :)

tAtA - bubye, grandpa
I know why grandpa-s are called thAthA as they take you tAtA all the time :) I indicate that I need to be going out by saying tAtA non-stop standing at the door.

(Pictures) India-trip #2 : Post-Birthday

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(Pictures) Ayush Homam

Pictures from my ayush homam conducted on March 9th 2009

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(Pictures) Date birthday celebration

Here are the pictures of my 1st birthday celebrations

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Hyderabad adventure

date : day 1, month 5, year 0 (baby calender)
(my akka Lakshya can only show these numbers. so i am using that for date)

Amma and appa put me in a thing that shakes a lot but was chilly. We woke up and were greeted by a stranger.He took me to a place where I was greeted by one more big stranger.Then suddenly two interesting folks greeted me. They didnt look big
like most of them I have met so far. The two were similar to my size. one was running around really fast and the other one kept following. They were introduced as kesavan and lakshya. (names are just for you again. I call them eeeeee and ooooo. Thats so much easier)

I liked this place (lets call it la-la land). It had lots of things to lick. The big guys lick off just one round thing (plate). Thats not intersting at all for me and its is too big. My mom likes bharathiyar and I tried to do what he said in his poems...

odi vilayadu paapa
nee oindrikkalaagaathu paapa
koodi velayadu paapa
oru kozhadaya veyaathe paapa.

I was playing (licking) and they were saying "nooo" and shaking their heads.

Big 1 treated me well with juices and sugar... yummy stuff...
Big 2 treated me with lots of kisses and when she asked me to come I did my usual "head shaking" no.
Big 1 called me something... "Pi Radian"... he called me that whenever I sat down to eat and did the routine gig of turning 180degrees away from food.
Big 2 called me roundu.

eeee is good to play with. I was able to grab things from eee for sometime and then I dont know what I did, eee started to run away from me and started grabbing things from me... but then when big 1 or big 2 made a loud noise (they sure do that a lot) eee would hand it to me :)

oooo was cool... kept running around all the time... jumped a lot... lifted me a lot... hugged a lot.

Suddenly I realized i could call eeee Paaapaaa.. huh.. thats what she was calling me all this time. the bigs sure liked it...

Oh no... we are back again in this shaking thing that is chilly. This time the bed was big. I woke up and was greeted by more bigs (I could even recognize one - my thatha duh)and that was the end of my trip to la-la land.

(posted by athimber and athai)

Conspiracy revealed

Oh.. what fun! Everywhere I looked, I saw people. You are never alone in India. I loved it ! But I am going to reveal the BIG conspiracy that I unraveled for the benefit of fellow babies (toddlers?) who go to India for the first time.

On March 9th, I was woken up by the usual household noise (which was a little more than usual) at around 6:45 a.m. I was excited to see Lakshya and her customary smiling morning greeting "pApA pApA" Soon people were carrying me, kissing and pampering me and saying the same words "piranda nAL vAzhthukkaL" Oh well.. who would say no to pampering :)

In a while, Lakshya and I were made to sit on maNai and athai started tickling our feet with turmeric and red stuff, then applied oil on our head and then... but we were on our way to explore.

Soon ammA gave me a bath, fed me breakfast and dressed me in a new pAvAdai. When we came into the living room, I saw a lot of people; many mAmA-s dressed in white. They had spread out many things on the floor. So exciting! Even before I could go and check out the stuff, ammA held me tight on her lap and the mAmA-s started talking loudly at the same time while appA was intently following and repeating what they were saying!

Aravind mAmA came along with a nice poo mAlai for me and everyone clapped as I wore it :) A little later mAmA along with mAmi and Kittu gave me some sweet mammu. I took some rest away from the commotion at our neighbour's house. After I woke up, people treated me with lots and lots of gifts :) After a while, I didn't know what happened. Chaos gave way to orderliness. Everyone were perfectly organized, sitting in line. Oh... mammu time for elders !

It seemed like things were done for the day.

Aravind mAmA who was playing with me sat me down on his lap with everyone crowding around. Another mAmA appeared and marked something on my ears and everyone around approved it! Before I knew, shot.... awww...shot... awwww....

damadamamdamammdmamadamama........Before I could bring my short crying spell to a logical end, I was distracted by the sound of crackers. There emerged my athimber smiling victoriously after celebrating the success of their conspiracy (puncturing my ears) by bursting 10000 wala. Still can't believe.. You too athimber??!

(Pictures) India-Trip #1: Pre-birthday

Here is a batch of pictures during my India trip (taken before my birthday):


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What they want me to be!

My parents have already started thinking about my career based on observing my behavior. Here are some roles they were discussing the other day...

Chief Stamp-Licker - I drool so much everyday and love picking up things and licking them. I also like sticking things in many places, often unnoticed by others.

Investigative Journalist - My extraordinary curiosity to know about things that are happening around me makes me the right candidate. I am working hard to develop my language skills (not baby blabber) to report the stuff that I poke my nose into.

Airport Security Personnel - My thoroughness in checking every part of a bag (and throwing out stuff) that I can lay my hands on, makes me a natural fit for this job. I have a lot of experience in this and my efficiency has improved tremendously over the last few months.

Politician - Waving/gesticulating and constantly talking (in baby language) are my trademarks. Isn't that sufficient to make it big in politics?

Clearance board official - I clear stuff from many places in one stroke. No bribe or distraction works with me. I have a clear mission and focus when I remove things. I cannot believe the fuss people create for eviction.

Quality Control inspector - I am known to be very rigorous and focussed in this role. I have proven my ability to find minute dust and dirt which have been left behind after all cleaning activities at home. With the kind of sharp eye and attention for detail that I possess, no house can claim to be 100% clean.

While the list can go on and on, I prefer being a baby for now and want to enjoy my first birthday!

Invitation for the First Birthday in Chennai, India

Malola Hall is located near the intersection of Habibullah Road and North Usman Road.

A map near the location:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=174+Habibullah+Road&sll=13.052786,80.23339&sspn=0.014277,0.021179&ie=UTF8&ll=13.05009,80.241673&spn=0.014277,0.029333&z=16

Babies rule

I am discovering the hidden strength of a potent weapon "crying until you get what you want". With grand parents/other sympathizers around, things get easier. AmmA and appA took me to Giri traders where we spend quite a bit of time. This was getting on to my nerves and I started getting cranky. AmmA thought she could keep me entertained by taking me to toys/gifts sections. While ammA was carrying me around, I managed to grab two rattles from one of the racks; one in each hand. Realizing this, ammA started with gentle tactics to get the rattles from me - Did not work. Then tried to distract - Did not work. Started playing "thaaa" game with me - Did not work. Losing her patience, she took the rattles from me by force! The roof came down... It was one of my best crying spells and all eyes were on me and ammA. People at the counter said "thambi kku vAngi kudungale, madam. paavam romba pidichirukku. azha vidAdhinga" My ammA instead of deciding on the purchase was explaining to people that I am not "thambi" but a girl baby wearing pant and shirt and no poTTu. With uninterrupted and focussed crying, I forced ammA to purchase one rattle for me.

BTW, my rattle lies in some corner of the house. Who cares? I know how to use my vocal chords to get things done now :) I am learning new things... yeah, becoming a big girl.

what an experience !

It is an exhilarating experience to walk. Now I know what people mean by hands free :) I can now freely explore my pAtti-thAthA's treasure house. Oh... did I tell you all that I am in India now and about my first long flight?

SFO to New York - tharai bed & ammA-appA-savAri - I slept for a while on the bed that appA and ammA made for me. I handled take off and landing well.

New York to Brussels - appA-ammA-savAri- Jet airways did not keep up their promise of bassinet for me:(
Instead they gave us 2 extra seats! The flight attendant did not allow me to be a tharai ticket too! She demonstrated to ammA how she can lie me down on those 2 seats and tie the belt around me. What was she thinking? I am not a baggage...

I stayed awake throughout the 8 hour flight. I did not cry much but was talking loudly. This disturbed one white mama sitting behind us so much that he said "Can you be quiet?" And I understood what he said very well !

Brussels to Chennai - tharai bed- The flight was full. No bassinet, no extra seats. My parents prepared my comfy tharai bed and were hoping that I will sleep and they can also get some rest. I lived up to their expectations and slept for almost 8 hours and got up just in time for landing.

Everyone around us was happy that I was such a good girl and did not disturb any of them. One mAmA and mAmi were so impressed with my good behavior that they asked my parents if I had been given some drug!

Relieved to reach thAthA-pAtti's and am currently being treated like a queen and pampered thoroughly :)

As I write this post, I am recovering from stomach flu and have already visited and befriended a pediatrician in Chennai.

My experience in India continues and when I think about my life in US, these are the pictures that come to my mind

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